Introduction

Former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC) of Pakistan, a four star retired General Ehsan ul Haq was born on September 22, 1949 in Mardan. After his retirement, in 2007, he has been engaged in number of corporate, intellectual

Gen. (retd) Ehsan ul Haq


Professional Achievements

Former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC) of Pakistan, a four star retired General Ehsan ul Haq was born on September 22, 1949 in Mardan. After his retirement, in 2007, he has been engaged in number of corporate, intellectual and humanitarian activities. He is also a frequent speaker in international forums, reputed think tanks and universities on geopolitical, defence and security issues.

After the military coup of 1999 in which General Pervez Musharraf came to power, General Ehsan was given some of the most important posts in the Pakistan Army which included commanding the Army corps in the restive tribal region and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, directing the ISI, the principal intelligence body and Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, the Commander-in-chief of Pakistan Armed Forces.

Ehsan ul-Haq graduated from PAF Public School Sargodha in 1967, and was commissioned in Anti- Aircraft Artillery (later formed as the arm of Army Air Defense) in October 1969 in the 41st PMA Long Course. Some of his achievements consist of graduating from Command and Staff College, Quetta, and National Defence University, Islamabad. He was promoted Brigadier in June 1992 and Major General in June 1996. He attended air defence courses in China and Saudi Arabia and participated in the Leadership Executive Development Course at the US Army Logistics Management College at Fort Lee, Virginia in 1989.

After promotion to Major General, he served as the GOC of 16th Infantry Division (Pano Aqil) near Sukkur, Sindh. During the army takeover in 1999, Maj Gen Ehsan ul Haq was Director General of Military Intelligence (DGMI), a post he continued till April 2001, when he was replaced by Major General Tariq Majid. He was then promoted as Lieutenant General and posted as the commander of Peshawar Corps, a post he continued for few months till October 2001.

On May 14, 2001, Major General Ehsan was promoted to a three-star general and by October 2001 was given the command of Inter-Services Intelligence, the intelligence body of Pakistan. This command changeover was part of a major reshuffle that took place after the events of 9/11, and with Pakistan siding with the United States in the War on Terror.

After completing the term as ISI chief, in October 2004, General Ehsan was promoted to four-star general and was given the chairmanship of JCSC, replacing General Aziz Ahmed Khan, who was due to retire from the Pakistan Army. General Ehsan ul Haq retired from military service on October 8, 2007 and was replaced by General Tariq Majid as Chairman.

General Ehsan ul Haq was later nominated as the first ever Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Defense (AD) on December 18, 2004. The Colonel-in-Chief is usually a general, and is the ceremonial head of his parent arm / service. General Ehsan was recommended to that position by General Pervez Musharraf, who himself was commissioned in a Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment.

In recognition of his meritorious services, General (retd) Ehsan ul Haq was awarded Hilal-e-Imtiaz (Military) and Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Military) by the Government of Pakistan. He is also the recipient of Chevalier de la Legion d’ Honneur from the French Government and the King Abdul Aziz Medal of Excellence from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.